Gillyflowers, Maybe
by BrechtianSchnauzer
Summary: set AT DH, Ginny has returned to Hogwarts for her 6th year, and Draco's been acting oddly. She must learn about the humanity of others and love that manifests itself in times of war. please R&R!
1. Back to School

okees, so this is my first draco/ginny fic, though i am a tremendous fan, and would love some reviews, so please just tell me what you think!!! (cookies to everyone who does)  
also, i'm looking for a beta, so if anyone would like to, please send a pm  
thankees!

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Returning to Hogwarts was always a very important time for the Weasley family, but this year it had a much more somber tone. The Golden Trio had insisted on skipping their last year to fight in the war, but Ginny's mother had turned a deaf ear to all of Ginny's pleading to go with them, hoping to keep her only daughter and youngest child safe in such a horrid time.

But Hogwarts would be different, too: McGonagall would take over after Dumbledore's death, Snape would be returning to the dungeons to teach Potions, and they would have new Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration teachers, though no one was sure who they were going to be.

The Weasley family that was still at home was eating breakfast one morning in August when they received the letter from Hogwarts with the school supplies. Inside, they found a surprise.

_Miss Weasley,_

_In addition to welcoming you back to your sixth year at Hogwarts, we would like to congratulate you on becoming a Gryffindor Prefect and Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team…_

Mrs. Weasley had snatched the letter out of Ginny's hands, and began reading it to the family. When she got to that part, Ginny was met with cheers, and Charlie, who had been Captain in his day, joked about keeping the team in line.

"Well, Ginny, it seems we should take a trip to Diagon Alley. You'll need new things for your classes. Oh, my, you are growing up so fast!" Mrs. Weasley's voice broke at the end.

"Mum…" Ginny tried to console her mother.

"No matter, Ginny," cut in Fred. "She's just sad that Ron followed our route and didn't finish school, and now you're they only one left." At this, Mrs. Weasley began to sob.

"Anyway, Gins," continued George, ignoring his mother, "we've got a surprise for you back at the shop."

And without further ado, they picked up their sister as they had done many years before, and apparated into their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Two seconds later came a pop from behind, and a much different Molly Weasley began to yell at the twins.

"You two have given me nothing but grief, and here you go again, taking my daughter from the _breakfast table_. Really, what has gotten into you?"

"Mum, she's our sister too, you know. And you'll like this."

They led the women to the back of the shop, and Fred pulled out a crudely wrapped package.

"Sorry it doesn't look so good right now, but we thought you wouldn't mind."

Ginny began to pull at the packaging, and her eyes widened when she saw the contents. She pulled out a shiny, new broom and she gave the twins a huge smile.

"Oh, thank you so much! How did you know that I would need it? Oh, it's perfect!"

"Well, we considered the options for Captain," George started.

"…and we decided that our own sis was the most likely candidate. And even if you weren't captain, you could use a nice broom. It's no Firebolt, but the Nimbus 2000 never went out of fashion." Fred explained.

Even Molly Weasley looked impressed, and her eyes shone with pride for the twins in being able to provide her daughter with something her and her husband would not have been able to give, especially when Ginny's Cleansweep 7 was often outclassed. She ushered Ginny out of the store, and onto the main street, heading towards Flourish and Blott's. Diagon Alley had changed very quickly, becoming darker, with many shops boarded up, and people hurrying about, minding their own business.

Molly left Ginny at the bookstore, saying that she was going to get something for Ginny becoming prefect, and quickly hurried off in the other direction, leaving Ginny alone on the threshold. Even though Diagon Alley was a perfectly safe place to be, Ginny felt uncomfortable alone and rushed into the store. As she looked through her booklist, she noticed that many teachers required multiple books, as McGonagall had decided to combine the 6th and 7th years, making the classes harder for preparation for the NEWTS. Whoever the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was, they were certainly going to challenge the students, for many of the tomes were uncommon, on dark subjects, but all of them seemed credible.

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief when her money covered the cost of the books, and picked up the stack, noticing that she couldn't really see where she was going. She proceeded on anyway, figuring that she could stop at a table outside to wait for her mother. Suddenly, she ran into something quite solid and her books spilled all over. She would have flown forward if not for the strong grip on her arms. She looked up to face cold, silver eyes and a handsome, aristocratic face.

"Couldn't get Saint Potter to carry your books for you, Weaslette?" Draco sneered, glancing up and down the smaller girl. "And all these books – you should have spent your money on some new robes, so you wouldn't embarrass yourself at school."

Ginny blushed, but did not lower her gaze. Malfoy was nothing but a snob. "Really, Malfoy, you aren't going to be too liked at school – if you're even returning. I would suspect you to go off fighting with your Death Eater father."

A look of rage flitted through his eyes, but he carefully calmed his features, and a guarded expression returned to his eyes. "As much as you would like to think that, I will be returning to Hogwarts to finish my schooling." Malfoy responded curtly, and turned on this heel, quickly exiting the shop.

_Well, that could have been worse, I suppose. Only one reference to Harry and my family. Something must be wrong with Malfoy. At least his father's not here, I wouldn't have been able to handle them both._

Ginny picked up her books and walked out the door to see her mother waiting outside with some packages. She took some of Ginny's books and they went to find a place to sit down. The nearest tables were outside of Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, now boarded up, but it was as good a place as any to set down their things.

Molly Weasley breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Ginny. "Here, I've got you something, and a present from Neville, too. He seemed quite flustered when he gave this to me." She gave Ginny a pointed look.

Ginny reached forward and took the rectangular box from her mother, and opened it to see a glimmer of dark green material. She quickly set the box on the table and pulled out the long robes, her eyes widening in awe. "Mum, this must have cost a fortune… You really didn't have to."

Molly regarded her daughter, then said, "You're growing up, you know, and I thought that my only daughter deserved one beautiful dress. And please don't worry about the price; it was something your father and I had planned for quite a long time."

Ginny hugged her mother, then picked up the dark, cloth-bound book from Neville. She cracked the binding open to find smooth, creamy paper, perfect for drawing. Inside, he had left a note for her.

_Ginny,_

_I'm very sorry I missed your birthday, so I hope this can make up for it. I know how much your love to draw, so I found this sketchbook – it is charmed to be anti-smudge and water resistant, so you don't have to worry about your artwork being ruined._

_--Neville_

Ginny couldn't help but smile, and she actually began to consider that Neville may be harboring some true feelings for her. She thought about what this could mean, for she and Harry had moved apart when Harry had gone off, after having a big row about her independence and ability to fight. Harry had demeaned her, and as such she broke off their relationship. While she didn't really want to be involved in anything right now, she realized that Neville was much kinder and sensitive than Harry could ever be.

A month ago, Harry had shown up at her door, a bouquet of flowers in his hand, and had asked to speak to her outside.

"_You know, Gin, I had to break up with you. It's to keep you safe. How do you think I would ever be able to live with myself if you got hurt… or… or…" He broke off suddenly, looked down, then looked up into her eyes, a rather pathetic look on his face._

_But Ginny knew this was coming, and had thought up a quite logical attack. "You would feel bad if something happened to Ron, too, right?" Harry nodded, though he looked a little unsure about where this was going. "Well, I can take care of myself just as well as Ron – better actually, because I did better on my OWLS than he did. So, you have no right to leave me behind."_

"_No, that is simply out of the question. I won't allow you to get hurt because of me. Anyway, you're underage, and would just get in the way most of the time."_

_Something in Ginny snapped, and she suddenly realized that Harry was not exactly ideal. "What do you mean, 'I'd be in the way a lot?' It seems to imply that I'm not capable of taking care of myself, right? Well, if that's the case, I definitely don't need you, so it's very good that you've already broken up with me. Goodbye, Harry!"_

_And with that, she had stormed inside and shut the door,__feeling that she had finally made the right choice._

As she stood there, staring at the notebook, Molly noticed that her daughter had truly grown up. She would be able to handle herself over the course of the school year and when she had moved out of the house, away from her parents.

"Come now, Ginny," Molly said. "We should get all of your things home, for you have a lot of packing to do before the 1st."

They gathered up the items and went into the Leaky Cauldron to Floo home. There, Ginny rushed upstairs to put her things away, and begin clearing out her trunk.

* * *

The rest of the summer passed quickly, each day spent doing odd jobs around the house, each night spent with her family, trying to make these peaceful days last, but eventually the morning of September 1st rolled around. Molly woke her daughter early, insisting that she check over her trunk one last time and put Pigwidgeon in his cage. Ron had bestowed the bird to Ginny, as she actually cared for it, and would be able to look after him at Hogwarts.

Breakfast was a hurried affair, and Ginny gave all of her brothers hugs before being whisked out the door by her mother. They were allowed to take a Ministry car to King's Cross, reaching the station at half past 10. As they approached Platform 9¾, Molly kept up a steady flow of things Ginny would have to worry about over the year, then abruptly stopped as they reached the platform. She gave Ginny a tearful hug and a "Be safe" before hurrying away. Ginny hugged her father, gave him a quick smile, and ducked into the station.

This is what Ginny relished, the blare of the train, the people running about, the smiles as friends met again after the long summer. She was finally at home.

Taking her trunk, she began to push through the crowd, looking for the prefects' compartment.

"Oy, Ginny, over here!"

She turned to see Colin Creevey, a rather smallish but exuberant boy waving her over. Next to him was Luna Lovegood, Ginny's friend since 4th year. Both sported prefect badges, though Colin's was red and gold as Ginny's was, and Luna's was blue and bronze, the colors of Ravenclaw.

"Hello, Ginny, did you have a nice summer?" Luna turned her big lamplike eyes on Ginny and gave her a vague smile.

"Rather nice, I suppose. I broke up with Harry, but I'm really past him now. He seemed to believe that I couldn't take care of myself."

"You can take care of yourself, I've seen more than enough of that." A voice from behind Ginny made her jump and turn around, and she was happy to see Neville standing behind her.

Without thinking, she hugged him tightly, which he awkwardly returned. Ginny added, "Thank you so much for the sketchbook. I was planning on using it at home, but decided to document this year with it. That way it'll be special."

Neville's face blushed into a sort of crimson shade, while he muttered something along the lines of, "Really, it was the least I could do, and I felt bad enough about having missed... You know, maybe we should get on the train..." It was only then that Ginny noticed the Head Boy badge on Neville's chest, and she was quick to congratulate him for it, closely followed by her friends. Again, he blushed and hurried off in the direction of the compartments.

"You know, Ginny, I think he likes you." Luna's voice drifted over, and Ginny suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"Really, Luna, usually you are better known for your skills in observation," Ginny retorted, picking up her trunk and rolling it in the direction Neville had gone.

Upon reaching the compartment, they found Neville in a heated discussion with Draco Malfoy. It seemed to be over nothing more than the compartment,but both boys had their wands drawn. Ginny immediately pulled out her own wand and rushed into the compartment, drawing the eyes of both boys to her.

"Malfoy, you know that as prefects we have the right to this compartment," Neville ground out.

Malfoy sneered, and said, "Well then, Longbottom, I hate to inform you, but I too am a prefect. Apparently they didn't trust any of the younger years with the job."

But Ginny cut him off, saying, "Well, then, Malfoy, we'll just have to share with you, though that's probably a concept you can't understand."

At that, Malfoy turned on his heel, making sure everyone heard about how he wanted nothing to do with blood traitors. Some people would never change.

The four students exchanged looks that conveyed their obvious feelings toward Malfoy, and settled in for the long train ride ahead of them. Colin and Neville began a game of Exploding Snap, and Ginny and Luna got into a deep discussion about _The Quibbler_, and how it was going to start helping the resistance.

The rest of the train ride continued in the same friendly, enjoyable manner, as they regaled stories from their summer, or sharing the sweets they bought from the trolley. By the time the train began its gradual stop, Ginny ready to be off the train, even if it did mean supervising the younger years.

Stepping off the train onto the platform, she again felt the memories rush back, and took a deep breath before yelling at some second years to get their trunks off in a more timely manner. She was shoved roughly by a fourth year Slytherin, whom she abruptly took house points from, then stumbled out of the compartment to hurry along the first years.

"Alrigh', first years come with me," boomed a deep voice, cutting across the chatter on the platform.

Ginny chanced a quick smile at Hagrid, then spotted a small group of girls huddled together, sporting no house affiliation. Assuming they were first years, and obviously terrified at that, Ginny decided that simple words would be the best way to get them to move along.

"You're all first years, right?" Six pairs of wide eyes looked up at her, and only one girl with curly black hair had the nerve to chance a nod. Giving them a warm smile, Ginny gently pushed them toward Hagrid. "He'll take care of you, no worries. Have fun with the sorting!"

She watched them go, thinking that it would be nice to have at least one of them in Gryffindor, when she felt someone watching her, and turned around. Draco was staring at her, his eyes revealing nothing, but his face wore an odd expression. He met her eyes and then turned on his heel, vanishing into the crowd.

Ginny had no time to think about this, though, for Luna rushed up to her, hair mussed, her eyes slightly frantic instead of dreamy.

"Gin, someone thought it would be a good idea to charm a bunch of birds into existence. Neville's occupied in getting the people on the carriages, and you're really much better at Charms than I am."

_Well, being a prefect at Hogwarts certainly never gets boring_, thought Ginny as she rushed to deal with the birds.

Luckily, the charms work was overly poor, and many of the birds were fading out of sight, leaving only a handful of feathers behind. It was quite easy for her to deal with them, and after the last of the birds had been counter-charmed into oblivion, Ginny began a quick sweep of the train, clearing out the last of the stragglers.

When the train was most definitely empty, she stepped off and hurried toward the group of prefects that was assembled at the gates, the last to leave the station. Neville spared a quick grin at her, and then did a head count, before nodding that the group could begin boarding the 3 remaining carriages.

The two Slytherin prefects spared no glance around, and promptly got into the first one, then took off, leaving 8 remaining students to 2 carriages. Two Hufflepuffs and a Ravenclaw boarded another of the carriages, which was the normal number to ride in a cabin, leaving 5 students looking awkwardly at the single carriage.

Colin hopped in quickly, hungry and tired, wanting to get to the school as soon as possible, and the rest followed, leaving Ginny out in the cold night air, wondering how she was ever going to fit in the cabin.

Ginny took a deep breath and stepped into the carriage, stooping so that she wouldn't bang her head on the doorframe. She glanced around the low light of the cabin, and suppressed a sigh. Thanks to the pratty Slytherins and the clueless Hufflepuffs, the carriage was already overcrowded, and she hadn't even found a seat yet. Luna, who was sitting next to Neville, tried to scoot over, and as it seemed no one else would budge for her sake, and Ginny made for the seat. Ginny was practically sitting in Neville's lap, whom she tried to give an apologetic smile, and only managed to bang her head into his chin.

"Oh, sorry Neville. Pity we couldn't have divided up the carriages better."

She heard him laugh, then, "Yeah, well, this is preferable to having to share a cabin with the Slytherins."

"True, that," piped up Colin, who looked Ginny and Neville over, quickly blushed crimson, and struck up a hurried discussion with Annette Chanson, the Ravenclaw Head Girl.

Luna spared a glance at Ginny, then looked significantly at Neville before giving a vague smile and staring out the window. It was Ginny's turn to blush, glad that no one would notice in the dark of the cabin.

"Um… What classes are you looking forward to this year, Ginny?" asked Neville.

"Well, Charms. Mostly, and then Potions, as long as I don't have to put up with Slughorn's Slug Club."

Neville let out a loud laugh this time, and because of her close proximity she felt his breath hanging over her, for he too had been subject to the quite painful events he had hosted.

"And you?" Ginny didn't want the cabin to revert back to awkward silence.

"Herbology, and maybe Defense Against the Dark Arts, given we have a decent teacher."

This comment led to a very involved discussion from all the students, who began to recount their favorite stories of their past Defense teachers. All were laughing heartily as Ginny recounted a prank Fred and George had played on Umbridge when the carriage abruptly pulled up to a stop, and, laughing, the students clambered out.

Luna stopped to say a couple of words to the thestrals, and had to run to catch up with her friends. As they made their way up the front steps, past the piles of luggage that would soon march up to the appropriate rooms, Colin let out an audible sigh and spoke up, "No place like home."

Ginny couldn't agree more, and her face lit up with a grin as they walked into the Great Hall, the thousands of candles sparkling above them, casting their light into the heavens that stretched beyond them.

Ginny sat through the sorting, clapping and cheering with the rest of Gryffindor as the more students were added to the house. She was happy to see that Claire Peters, the curly-haired girl she had met on the platform, was now cheerily sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table.

And then, before the food appeared, McGonagoll stepped up the front of the dais to give the customary start-of-term speech.

"Now, as you know, these are… hard times we're living in, so we must learn how to stick together through them. This year will be your chance to live, to laugh, and to cry, and a time when you must find solace in each other. You students are the first generation of a change, and can make it happen if only you learn the strength you have as a whole." She gave a rather meaningful glance at the sixth- and seventh-years, and then continued on with her speech.

"As you all know, there are a couple new staff members this year, and I would like to take the time to welcome them to Hogwarts. First off, Professor Slughorn left at the end of last year, so Professor Snape will be resuming his old position as Potions Master, and as the Deputy Headmaster."

Many of the students groaned quite audibly, Ginny included, but there was a fair smattering of applause from the Slytherin table.

McGonagoll cleared her throat, then waited for the crowd to quiet before continuing. "To fill in my position as new Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House, I'd like to welcome my old colleague, Professor Tybalt."

A middle-age man with curly brown hair and smiling eyes in a creased face waved a hand, and winked at Gryffindor table, which was clapping much more fervently than the other houses.

"He looks fair, at least. And good-spirited. Hope he can live up to McGonagoll's legacy, though; that has to be hard," commented Neville. Ginny nodded her head, agreeing that it would be hard to live up to how accomplished as a teacher the Headmistress had been.

Again, McGonagoll waited for silence. "Finally, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Malfoy."

"No! He's a Death Eater, he can't teach at Hogwarts!" cried out Colin, a mix of anger and shock in his voice.

A hush fell over the hall, and Ginny scanned over the teachers. Malfoy was sitting at the very end, partially obscured by Hagrid, which was why no one had noticed him before. He did not acknowledge his welcome, choosing instead to cast his eyes over the crowd, finally letting them come to rest upon Colin, a sneer crossing his pointed face.

At this, Ginny was dragged back to the situation at hand. Draco was half out of his seat, hatred crossing his face, his wand already in his hand. Before he could hex Colin, McGonagall interrupted.

"Mr. Creevey, as a prefect I expect you to use better judgment, instead of embarrassing yourself and being utterly disrespectful to a teacher." Colin flushed and tried to sink lower into his seat. "For your brazen actions, you shall serve detention with Professor Malfoy for the next month, and hopefully you will learn that he is not associated with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers. Now, I've kept you all long enough from your food. Please, tuck in."

She turned around and returned to the high seat in the middle of the dias, and Ginny felt the first pang of loss of Dumbledore. Hogwarts would manage without him, but his absence would be felt. She stared dazedly towards the front of the hall, thinking back to June, when her thoughts were interrupted.

"You okay, Gin? Going to eat anything?" Neville was peering at her with a look of concern.

"What? Oh, right, I'm okay. Sorry, just thinking…" She trailed off, then grabbed some shepherd's pie that had not been there a moment before, and piled it onto her plate. Neville gave her another worried look, then nodded his head sharply, turning to try to console Colin about his detention.

"Look Colin, that was quite unfair for her to say that to you in front of everyone, and we were all thinking it, it was just a matter of who managed to say something first. And letting him teach here? What was McGonagoll thinking? Really, she needs to give the students a better reason than 'he is not associated with them,' for as far as I know, he's got as blatant a mark as Snape." Shaking his head, he patted Colin on the shoulder, then focused back on his food.

The rest of the meal passed uneventfully, everyone continuing their conversations from the train about their summers, happy to be back in the company of friends. As the meal came to a close, and McGonagoll dismissed them, Ginny was ready for sleep, and retired quickly to her dorm after escorting the new first-years to the entrance to the common room. She barely gave her roommates any notice, and thought just briefly of silver eyes before drifting off to sleep.


	2. Classes Begin

**A/N: Yes, I haven't updated in a year, and yes, I know that I only had one chapter posted. But I was hoping that maybe people would have the heart to have faith in me - I have a good amount of this story planned out and I am trying really hard to work on it :)**

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Ginny woke early the next morning, a shaft of sunlight falling on her bed through the open curtains. She stretched lazily, content to be back at school, though she knew that the feeling would wear off as soon as classes picked up. She got dressed quickly, brushed her hair, and grabbed her book bag, ready to go down to get her course schedule.

Upon arriving at breakfast, she saw that she was one of the few people there, for she preferred to wake up early, unlike most of the population of teenagers. All the teachers were there, she noticed, scowling slightly at Professor Malfoy before sitting down at the Gryffindor bench. She was just reaching for some porridge when a small voice piped up from beside her.

"What's your name?"

Ginny turned quickly, spilling some porridge on the table, and saw Claire Peters, the little girl from the platform, looking at her with bright blue eyes. Ginny smiled at her and said her name, at which the girl smiled.

"My mum's told me about your family, she says that you're a great bunch of wizards. But I knew that already, 'cause you're in Gryffindor." At that, she also doled out some porridge and turned away from Ginny, focusing very intently on her food.

Ginny supposed the girl was nervous, and subsequently embarrassed because she had said too much, so she looked around the Great Hall, and saw Neville at the far end handing out schedules to the students at breakfast. Figuring it could be one of her duties as Prefect to help, and curious about her classes, Ginny got up to help him.

"Hey, Neville. Excited for classes to start?"

Neville smiled at her, but he looked slightly frantic. "Ginny, can you help me hand these out? I know this sounds bad as Head Boy, but I can't remember half of the younger students' names."

Grinning, Ginny took half the stack from Neville, glanced at the name, and went to go find the schedule's owner. Her stack dwindled down as the students trickled in, and she didn't have to help Neville as much as she thought she would, for he seemingly knew more than he had let on about. Finally, Ginny ended up with Neville's schedule, and he with hers, so they traded as they sat down for breakfast, for Ginny had never really gotten anything to eat during her conversation with Claire.

She looked at her schedule and swore under her breath, causing Neville to send her a questioning look. "Double Potions with the Slytherins again. I swear, they do this just to torture us. And now that Snape's come back, we're definitely in for it."

Neville frowned, and pored over his own schedule. "And I've got Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins as well. That's really a pity, I was looking forward to that class. Though I suppose any chance of that was ruined as soon as Lucius Malfoy stepped up to be teacher."

"Well, at least we'll have classes together," ventured Ginny, who saw that as 6th and 7th years from the same house, they had been given identical schedules.

Neville smiled brightly at this, and Ginny inwardly sighed. Slightly clueless, Neville made his feelings towards her quite clear, and she pitied that she could not return them, for she saw Neville as a brother. This would have to wait, though, until the problem directly confronted her, for she didn't have time to deal with it.

Sighing, she glanced at her schedule and frowned. She only had two classes today - Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, but she figured that the day would most likely drag on, as both of the teachers were new and normally would just hand out a syllabus on the first day.

She spotted Luna getting up from the Ravenclaw table and made her way over, hoping they would have a bit of time to chat before classes started.

"Hey Luna, did you get a horrible schedule like me? Or were you lucky this year?"

Luna smiled and replied vaguely, "Oh, I'm sure you'll end up liking your schedule Ginny, but I really do like mine. And at least we'll have Charms together. Surely that can't be bad?"

_Trust Luna to see the bright side in everything_, thought Ginny. "Fine, I'm happy we have one class together. But they've stuck the Gryffindors and the Slytherins together for the two classes taught by Death Eaters. You'd thing McGonagall would have a problem with that."

"Maybe it's just hard to change that sort of thing. Double potions with the Slytherins seems to be a tradition." She then pulled a large pocketwatch out of her bag and looked at it, then sighed. "Sorry, Gin, I really do have to run. Care of Magical Creatures... You know, quite a long walk. Please try not to hex anyone."

At that, Ginny smiled, and left Luna, fully prepared to take on the challenges the day could bring. She headed out the Great Hall and through the corridors that were just beginning to fill with students. Twice she had to stop and help first-years who had looks of utter terror on their faces as they struggled to deal with all the tricks of the castle.

By the time she finally made it to the classroom, she was out of breath, and paused right outside the doorway to try to gain some of her composure before entering.

"Miss Weasley. Are you planning on holding up class all day? Or would you like to come in so I can teach?"

Ginny whirled around, surprised, and saw none other than Lucius Malfoy leaning against the door frame, a smirk just gracing his lips.

"Wha- I- Er... I was helping out first-years, sir. My duty as a prefect, and all," Ginny managed to say, caught off-guard by his appearance.

"Still, 5 points from Gryffindor for being late on the first day of class."

"Sir, that's hardly-"

His eyes narrowed, "I can easily make it more if you keep me waiting." He then turned on his heel and strode the front of the room.

Ginny edged into the classroom, not surprised to see everyone turned to face her. She flushed, embarrassed, and looked around for an empty desk. Malfoy was sitting alone, his two hulking friends sharing the desk behind him, but Ginny would be damned if she had to sit next to him. She saw that Neville had already taken a seat with Dean Thomas, but at least she got apologetic looks from both of them. Then she saw it - the single empty desk, directly in front of the teacher's desk.

Groaning mentally, she quickly made her way to the front and sat down, trying to avoid looking at anything but her desk.

"Now, I'm sure you all have heard of a certain... growth in the amount dark activity lately." At this, Ginny looked up at her professor, completely dumbstruck that he would be so frank about the current situation. Looking around, she the Gryffindors in the same state of surprise, though most of the Slytherins were smirking and exchanging glances.

"I am sure you all knew of my position in relation to the dark activities, but I can assure you that I no longer serve the Dark Lord. I have already made my intentions of helping the younger generation prepare for these dark times perfectly clear to the staff, and most importantly the Headmistress, but I know that the students your age will be slow to trust. At least the Gryffindors will, they always seem to get stuck thinking in black and white." He paused to let the Slytherins laugh, but Ginny was not amused. His facade might fool some people, but she knew that someone black-hearted enough to give and eleven-year-old a diary cursed with the soul of Voldemort was not going to give up his dark affiliations so easily.

"I have looked over the previous teachers' syllabuses, but I must say that it was much too much book learning and hardly any practical application." Ginny thought this was an unfair statement, for he had obviously not even considered looking at Lupin's syllabus, probably burning it simply because he was involved with the Order.

"And I'm going to teach you how to deal with the dark arts in real time. I considered having you write essays, but I really don't want to bother with your shoddy attempts at writing, so most of the work I give you to be done outside of class will be practicing. And I expect you all to practice until you achieve mastery, however long that may be." At this, his gaze lingered upon Neville, and Ginny's heart immediately went out to him. He really had improved in the last two years, and she hoped that he would be able to prove Malfoy wrong.

"We will be working on one-on-one dueling, with simple exchanges of spells, and perhaps a dueling tournament later in the year, but I have specifically asked the Headmistress to convert the unused Upper East Wing of the castle into a... battlefield of sorts. From there, you will be divided up into groups and work on team combat and group fighting. With hope, you will gain enough skill to not die your first year out of school." He ended his speech with a smirk, and gave the students a moment for it all to sink in.

_Fine, he seems like he knows what he's doing, at least. It's a pity I can't hate his teaching, but I might actually learn something this year, something that will help me_, thought Ginny. She was even slightly excited to see how exactly the group fights would work, but she did not have enough time to really consider this, as Professor Malfoy began speaking again.

"I understand that you may all be looking forward to dueling, but I don't want to have to deal with a group of incompetent wizards randomly firing spells, so I decided that I would give you all a chance to warm up today with simple blocking practice. Everyone, please find a partner and line up across from them in the middle of the room."

The students all scrambled out of their seats, desperate to not be left without a partner. Ginny tried to get to Neville, thinking that she would give him some confidence if they could work together, but Colin blocked her pathway, and she felt bad refusing him. As she and Colin made their way to the middle of the classroom, she saw Dean and Seamus already lined up.

_Poor Neville, I wonder who he's stuck with... _And then she saw - Neville, looking put out and quite nervous, was standing across from Draco Malfoy.

_He's probably trying to scare Neville. Well, I won't let that happen._ With that, Ginny dragged Colin to the end of the row where Draco and Neville were standing, and situated herself next to Neville. She gave his hand a quick squeeze and sent him a smile for reassuring, but he barely managed to return it.

Unfortunately, this exchange did not go unnoticed by Draco, who looked them both up and down, then drawled, "It's not a surprise that the blood traitors go for one another. But please, I don't need to see your disgusting displays of affection in here."

"Look, Malfoy, just because you seem to be incapable of making friends, it does not give you the right to ruin the happiness of everyone else." Ginny glared at him, then turned to face Colin.

Professor Malfoy then started to speak, cutting off any retort that his son could have given. "Now, just take turns exchanging jinxes. No hexes please, it is not my job to piece you back together. You may start... now." And with that, he walked back to his desk and sat down, not interested in seeing the students trying to get back into the groove of using a shield charm.

Ginny grinned at Colin, and sent a Jelly-legs Jinx at him, which he quickly blocked and returned her jinx. She soon fell into the rhythm of shooting and blocking, and even felt comfortable enough to glance at Neville, though she almost regretted it.

Draco was casting all his spells silently, something that the seventh-years had already learned, and Neville was slowly losing control on the situation. After Neville sent back a rather feeble jinx, Draco smirked and brought his wand up, focusing hard on the weaker boy.

Ginny knew this did not bode well for Neville, who was too shaken from his desperate blocking to notice, and she decided to intervene before Draco could bully him any further. But she was a tad too late, and as she stepped in front of Neville to cut off Draco's spell, she saw a jet of red light shooting toward her. Her eyes met Draco's, and she saw not only surprise but also what would have been fear on any other person.

Then - she felt herself flying backward, and felt pain, intense and burning, pain like nothing she had ever felt before consuming her entire body, and the distant sound of a scream that she realized was her own.

And instantly, the pain was gone, and she was thankfully engulfed with darkness. She hardly had time to enjoy the peaceful oblivion when she felt someone shaking her shoulders, their voice coming through to her as if out of a fog.

"Ginny - Ginny, wake up, come on. _Ennervate. _Oh, bloody hell -look, I'm sorry. I meant to hit that oaf. I never would have done that to you."

She heard the earnestness in the voice, and as she slowly opened her eyes, she was horrified to find Draco Malfoy staring at her, still holding her up by her shoulders. And as she glanced behind him, she saw the entire class staring at her, snapping her back to reality.

She shoved Malfoy's hands off of her, scrambling away from him. "Why are you so upset you hit me? As you said, both Neville and I are blood traitors, it shouldn't make a difference whom you crucio."

Draco backed away, shocked by her harsh words, and Neville stepped forward, helping Ginny stand up. She accepted his hand gratefully, wrapping her arms around him when she stood up, glad to have someone to comfort her.

She never noticed the look of hurt on Draco's face, the look of care in Neville's eyes, nor the cold, perceptive glance Lucius Malfoy gave his son.


End file.
